Opportunities

Across the globe, youth are buzzing with creative activity. There are hundreds of media projects around the world that give young people the media tools to express their perspectives. Here are a few of the many opportunities for youth to share their ideas on film and video.This list of film festivals has been prepared by UNICEF.

Kids For Kids
International film festival featuring work by kids 6-16 years of age. A festival and event for young people and media educators, with festivals in the Balkans, the UK, and Africa. http://www.kidsforkidsfestival.org/en

StrangerFestival
An online and offline platform for self-made videos made by young people on issues that matter to them. http://www.strangerfestival.com/

YOUKI Internationale Youth Media Festival
Platform for young Austrian filmmakers under the age of 26 and on the basis of its multicultural programming facilitates international comparison. A jury of well-known figures gives six prizes, the Youki Awards. http://www.youki.at

The Reel Youth Film Festival (Vancouver)
Festival of Reel Youth, a non-profit youth media empowerment organization. They also put together a traveling film festival out of the winning entries, and have also done projects with youth in other countries. For youth under 19. http://www.reelyouth.ca/

YoungCuts Film Festival (Montreal)
Global network of young filmmakers and videographers under the age of 25, with annual film festival. http://www.youngcuts.com

Videotivoli International Video Festival for Children and Young People
International kids’ and youngsters’ film event, featuring films lasting less than 10 minutes, made by people under 16 years of age. http://www.videotivoli.fi/english09/index.htm

Lola Kenya Screen
Lola Kenya Screen is an annual international audiovisual media movement that seeks to place production tools in the hands of children and youth for the advancement of literacy, gender equity, self expression, and democracy in their world. http://www.lolakenyascreen.org/

Seoul International Youth Film Festival
With week long film camp for 100 kids from around the world aged 13-18 that culminates with the festival featuring their films and films made by youth all over the world. http://www.siyff.com/

Jana International Film Festival for Youth
A touring festival of Al-Jana, Arab Resource Center for the Popular Arts based in Lebanon, that promotes film made by and for youth, with an emphasis on youth-produced works. http://www.al-jana.org/programs/ArtMediaFilms.htm

CineKid Festival
Large international festival highlighting professional feature films made for children and youth between the ages of 4-14, international children’s and youth documentaries, TV productions, and new media. http://www.cinekid.nl

Nordic International Youth Film Festival
For young people between 15 and 25 years old. During festival they conduct workshops to teach young people how to make films. http://www.nuff.no

Lahore International Children’s Film Festival
An annual event to showcase local and international cinema by and for children in Pakistan. The festival screen films from international and local film makers for Pakistani children, promotes children as film makers, while training them in the art of film making and exhibiting their work in the festival, and nurtures local film makers to produce films to children in Pakistan. The festival has two categories, one for youth under the age of 18 and one for other filmmakers making films for children. http://www.lahorechildrenfilm.com/

St. Petersburg International Youth Film Festival
The festival is founded by ‘Insight In’ art-centre with the support of Ministry for Youth Policy of Russian Federation, Government of St. Petersburg and St. Petersburg State University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics, for filmmakers under 29 years of age, with an anti racist message. http://www.iyfest.org/e_news.html

Castellinaria International Youth Film Festival
Features and shorts competition for children and young people 7 to 21 years old. http://www.castellinaria.ch/

Breeze International Youth Film Festival (Leeds)
In addition to films, this two week-long festival includes performances, live music, master classes, and a radio show for youth in Leeds, England.
http://www.breezeleeds.org/pg/6/About_the_festival

Cinemagic Film and Television Festival for Young People
Industry-geared film festival for UK and Irish filmmakers and actors under 25 with programming around skills building. http://www.cinemagic.org.uk/

Showcomotion Young People’s Film Festival (Sheffield)
Children and young people 2-19; films made by children and young people, films made for children and young people, shorts, animation, UNICEF UK AWARDS: films on the theme of young people’s rights; also organizes children’s media industry conference. http://www.showcomotion.org.uk/

All Youth Film and Education Day (Sacramento, CA)
A festival of the youth media organization Tower of Youth, based in Sacramento, California. The event is combined with youth education day and features films made by youth between the ages of 13 and 20 only in Canada and the U.S. http://www.towerofyouth.org/

Cinemakids (Austin, TX)
Organized by the Radio, Television, and Film Department at UT Austin, this is an annual 2 day event that brings together youth filmmakers under the age of 18 for screenings and production workshops. http://rtf.utexas.edu/cinemakids/

Docu-Jam (NY, NY)
Held in conjunction with the Museum of Television & Radio’s “Television Documentary Festival,” Docu-Jam is a 2-hour screening of documentaries made by youth from across the country. Organized by the the Downtown Community Television organization (DCTV) based in NYC.
http://www.dctvny.org/PROGRAMS/protv/docujam_2008.html

Do It Your Damn Self!! Youth Film and Video Festival (Cambridge, MA)
Organized and curated by youth at the Cambridge Community Art Center, this is a youth media film festival showing work of filmmakers under the age of 19 from across the country. http://www.diyds.org/

Echo Park Film Center Youth Film Festival (Los Angles, CA) Festival featuring videos made by youth in the Echo Park Film Center youth media programs as well as youth from around the globe. http://www.echoparkfilmcenter.org/festivals/youth-film-fest.htm

kidsfilmfest (Brooklyn, NY)
A festival that spawned from the Brooklyn International Film that showcases and promotes films for an audience of youth and children. http://www.kidsfilmfest.org

Reel Teens Film Festival (Woodstock, NY)
The festival of the Reel Teens Media Project, which teaches film and video skills to teenagers. The festival is for teens only, and there are cash awards in 8 categories, trophies, DVD of winning entries and a traveling festival of the winning entries. http://reelteensusa.com/home.htm

Tribeca Film Festival (NY, NY)
Tribeca provides a space for youth filmmakers in their “Urban Vision” program. A collection of youth-made films are screened throughout the year. http://www.tribecafilminstitute.org/youth/screening_series/

Youth Media Program of the Hampton’s International Film Festival (Hampton, NY)
This program of youth films is part of the Hampton’s International Film Festival. They have a created a “Golden Starfish” award, their top honor, for youth filmmakers & cash award. Organized in collaboration with Children’s Media Project. http://www.childrensmediaproject.org/

Student Film Festival Calendar. Need to know where you can screen your film and when the submission deadline is? Here's a comprehensive listing of film festivals that encourage student work, festivals with student categories and student festivals. Source: Kodak

Listen Up! has an extensive list of digital film competitions. Check out the "Exchange" menu selection for our "Call for Entries" of current festivals. Also in the resources section, we have a guide to US-based festivals.

NW Film Center
Portland, Oregon
The NW Film center offers courses all year around in film and video production for youth. Classes and workshops are designed for all ages by grade level starting at grade 4 and running through high school. A Summer Camp for Kids and Teens provides intensive instruction. Check out the NW Film Center's Young Filmmakers Program.

The Gulf Islands Film and Television School
Galiano Island, BC, Canada
The Gulf Islands Film and Television School is a media production training facility on Galiano Island, BC. Accommodations are classic Gulf Islandesque: rustic, cozy, shared hostel-style rooms. Students live and work at the school in weekend, one-week, or month-long sessions. Sessions are organised by age group (12-14 yrs., 14-19, 19+) and genre (drama, documentary, etc.). GIFTS emphasizes independent production, hands-on training, and respect for the creative process. Learn more.

Free Online Media Courses. The BBC provides anyone with an Internet connection a set of multimedia training exercises and tutorials. These particular guides and modules were originally designed for in-house use with BBC staff . Visitors can browse through such sections as “Television”, “Radio”, “Broadcast Technology”, and “Journalism”. While some of the materials can bit a bit technical, there are many that provide basic operating procedures on creating effective radio interviews and editing existing video segments.
Overall, it’s a fine site, and students and educators will benefit from the sage advice contained within these various teaching documents. These online modules and guides are free for you to use. It is suggested you read through the various offerings and find those that have particular value to your current production situation.
Visit the BBC Training Site. (Scout Report).